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UPCOMING EVENTS
Combined Run with the Boxster/Cayman Register "Summer Escapade to East Gippsland" on Sunday 19th February 2012
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PAST EVENTS
Torque Tube Christmas Run to Yarra Valley on Sunday 4th December 2011
The day started at the Brunetti Café Carlton, and the Zonzo attendees were very pleased to enjoy a great café style breakfast before starting the Torque Tube Christmas run to the Train Trak Winey.
9am at Brunetti’s is always busy with bike riders stopping for their usual latte after a bike ride, families having breakfast with kids, the tourists trying the vast array of cakes and then there was “us” – the Porsche enthusiasts who came to start the Torque Tube Christmas run to Train Trak winey. We were easily recognisable, a Porsche design cap here, a Porsche design jacket there and of course the PCV name tag hanging around our necks.
There were 22 entrants who attended the run with 12 cars being 944s, 968, 928s, Boxster, Cayman and a 997 to round it off. Our President, Will Darvall made a surprise visit and speech to see us off, which was fantastic considering he had attended the Annual Dinner Dance the night before – well done Will and thanks.
The route had two stages, the first through the back of Christmas Hills in Eltham, is both windy and steep in sections with lots of ups and downs – it feels like a grown up’s roller coaster ride. This is great for the drivers, but I was starting to wonder if the poor passengers were going to feel like lunch afterwards. Luckily there was a bit of highway driving into Healesville to allow you to recover.
The second stage of the route saw us drive towards Healesville, Toolangi and Chum Creek Road. The road has lots of twists and turns and great bush scenery. A real driver’s road.
But first, there was trouble…I radioed my pit crew to advise them I was coming in to pit stop, (well actually, I telephoned my co-captain to advise that I needed to go to the toilet) apparently there was too much pressure in the oil sump and we needed to pit and re-adjust the flow! Embarrassingly for me, all the other cars decided to take my lead and pull over to wait for me.
On arrival at Train Trak winery, we were treated to a nice array of wines to taste, with the 2007 Pinot Chardonnay Sparkling being my favourite. Lunch started with a superb antipasto, the best I have seen for a while, and then a great line up of wood fired pizzas till we could eat no more. The scenery overlooking the rolling hills of the winery vines and Yarra Valley in the background was superb.
Being Christmas, the restaurant was full of end of year parties, which added to the fun for the afternoon, as we joined in the festivities with some of other tables to discuss the finer aspects of driving a Porsche, but I suspect the hairdressers were not that interested.
A thank you to all those that attended and I hope to see you on our next run in 2012.
Toque Tube Run to T'Gallant Winery, Mornington Peninsula on Sunday 17th July 2011
When we started to plan for this event, we decided on 2 things – The run had to start somewhere that served good coffee and end somewhere that served good wine – The sandbar café and T’Gallant proved the winning combination and thus the Torque tube register winter run to the picturesque “T’Gallant” winery on the Mornington Peninsula was on.
A winter run is always tricky – you don’t know how many people will come, you don’t know what the day will be like and you don’t know what the road conditions will hold – Fortunately for this run, none of those issues came up – The day was sunny, we had a sold out number of cars and attendees, and the roads were perfect – well kind of – but more about that later.
The day started bright and sunny with numerous cars lined up in front of Sandbar café on Beaconsfield Parade in Middle Park – We had cyclists, joggers and rollerblades all admiring the line up of Porsches and a few Masserati’s just for good measure. We somehow managed to get star treatment by the Melbourne Newspapers, listing our run in their respective drive sections, which meant 2 things; 1. We had a few extra people come to the café to have a chat and see what was going on and 2. We got the notice of the boys in blue that made themselves very well known to us along the beach route to Mornington. Luckily everyone stuck to the rules and no trouble was reported.
The run up to Red Hill was a little slow considering we had to weave around the cyclists for most of the way along Beach Road through to Frankston, then we had the police watching us at quite a few major intersections, plus the slow moving cars driving up Arthurs Seat blocking the entire road with little consideration for the magnificent German automobiles charging up behind them on the hill - it was a good run.
Once over Arthurs Seat, we mapped out a very fast twisty loop around the entire Red Hill area which saw some spirited driving along the fast straights, windy back roads and blind bends for the lead cars. We even got some “Wow” looks from the Subaru WRX club cars doing time trial runs going the other way.
We also had some – ummm – “non-spirited” driving, however all participants showed great respect for their PCV mates and in good team camaraderie, resisted the urge to overtake these front drivers.
Once at T’Gallant winery, the team was treated to complete wine tasting review of all the fabulous wines of T’Gallant and some good discounts on wine lots. They are well know for their Pinot Gris and certainly was my personal favorite.
After the wine tasting was over, we were seated and presented with a delicious 2 course meal in the “La Baracca” restaurant complemented with great wines, which was outstanding, and even enjoyed some Latin tunes by their solo guitarist right outside our window. It was a great time to mingle with all the members that had come out to enjoy a nice run on a cold crisp winter’s morning and thank them personally for coming and making our Torque Tube winter run a success.
With the formalities over, time for a few photo opportunities, a bit more wine and a look around the winery, before heading home to relax.
Thanks again to all those that participated and look forward to organizing the next Torque Tube run.
Tony Monteleone
Torque Tube & Boxster/Cayman Registers Queenscliff Run - Sunday 23rd January 2011
Sunday 23rd of January started fine and cool with a forecast for a warmer day to come. I start with this as the weather was tailor made for a Porsche Club run and no-one could fail to enjoy driving their babies on a day like this.
We all gathered at the Melton McDonalds more or less by the appointed time with one or two members making a short detour to the "other" McDonalds in Melton or, having missed the exit, a drive up the highway towards Ballarat until they could legally do an about face. But having gathered the seventeen cars all together (three more were joining us in Geelong) there was the obligatory briefing and we were off!
From near the front of the 'procession' it was quite impressive. Nine Boxsters, Five 944's and a smattering of others namely a 996, 964 and Will and Barbara's 1955 Spyder - a fantastic sight! After Geelong we were joined by another 944, a 997 and a Maserati 4.2 GT. Any enthusiasts dream parade and indeed heads were turning as we drove through Geelong.
The object of the day was of course lunch at the Queenscliff Hotel but first some driving through different country. Morning tea was in Geelong so the day was basically split into a country run followed by a coastal run - something for everyone. We soon cleared Melton and took the scenic run south past the Melton Reservoir then through Exford, Balliang, Anakie, entering Geelong via the Midland Highway, the roads were flat and fast with some spirited overtaking of slower moving cars - and lead us directly to the waterfront and, almost, morning tea.
Now the plan had been to rendezvous at Cunningham pier for morning tea (lots of parking you see and a wide choice of venues) but at the last minute word was passed to us that the waterfront was going to be clogged with the annual Australia Day Regatta (sponsored this year by some other German auto maker with lots of rings) and it was suggested we avoid the waterfront. So an alternate venue was organised and we took our break, meeting up with our final three cars, at the Elephant & Castle Hotel (Thanks Roger Holding ). Even with the changed venue all cars made it and there ensued a pleasant and very social morning tea.
After our break we headed back into town and with minimal fuss was able to link up to our original route even managing to zero our odometers more or less correctly to match our route notes. We quickly made our way to the coast below the Geelong Botanic Gardens and could easily see the hundreds of yachts just off shore preparing for their day of sailing. We then edged around onto the Portarlington Road and via Drysdale made our way to Portarlington where we once again took the slower but really pretty coastal road around the peninsula to St. Leonards. It's worth noting here that the weather was also bringing out the tourists and sight- seers so we were forced to take our time and savour the surrounds - nice really.
Once past St. Leonards we turned inland for a few clicks before turning south and following the curve of Swan Bay visible over rolling green pasture (something I haven't seen in summer for quite some years). We then made our way skirting past Point Lonsdale on the final stretch into Queenscliff. The weather had, as I previously said, brought out the day trippers and the traffic was worthy of Melbourne at peak hour! This was really brought home when we arrived at the Queenscliff Hotel to discover the normally vast and vacant parking was the exact opposite. Unfortunately some people had to park several blocks away and I even overheard someone commenting over lunch that they were parked half way back to Geelong... pretty sure that was an exaggeration but you get the drift!
Lunch was terrific (well mine certainly was) and the surrounds were of old elegance. As is often the case on Porsche runs the conversations and camaraderie made it a two to three hour sojourn before people finally headed back home. Several members took the opportunity to take the ferry across to Sorrento to shorten their return journey and I believe a good time was had by all. Thanks to the great collaborative work of both registers, the day went without a hitch.
Torque Tube Register at Lavandula - Sun 12th Sept.
Torque Tube Drive and Luncheon at “La Trattoria"
A fun day was had by all at the “Torque Tube spring run to Lavandula farm at Daylesford”. La trattoria café “at Lavandula was a snug timber room in stone cabin and a big long table, where all the participants could sit and enjoy each others company-It was the perfect setting after an exciting and eventful drive to Daylesford. Our day started with a drive through the exciting twists and turns of the back roads through Sunbury; but my navigation skills were not exactly up to scratch- so after our first wrong turn and then our second “drive too fast and miss the turn off”, mishap, surely the morning couldn’t get any worse. Luckily, I had my co-captain to handball some of the blame too. We decided to stop for a good photo opportunity on the side of the highway out of Kilmore; Well, it only seemed fitting, as there was a mobile speed camera on the other side of the road – so, while he was taking pictures of other speedsters – we thought, why not do same, and at the same time try to work out which fork in the road we should take to get us back onto the Freeway. Luckily, everyone decided that we should take the road which wasn’t on the map and try our luck – It paid off ! and we found our way onto the Calder freeway – Well almost – This time my co-captain thought it a good idea to drive past the freeway entrance and try our luck at turning six cars around a narrow road and head back to the freeway entrance (Mishap number 4)
Onward and upward – Ahh, finally highway and easy driving to Daylesford – The final leg into Daylesford took us through some very long straight country roads, where, we were finally able to open up the cars to some power overtaking and nice power runs though long bends and exciting curves – needless to say, most took full advantage of the opportunity.
Daylesford was a buzz with farmers market stalls and activities and the sight of 6 Porsches driving though the middle of town turned some heads – alas our destination awaits – Driving through ‘Break Neck Gorge’ in Hepburn Springs was our last exciting bit of driving for the day into Lavandula farm.
Nothing stopping us now I thought – Except , the flooded creek crossing – ohh well, I thought, we will have to park the cars on the side of the driveway into the farm.
This proved a bit hazardous for our Boxster friend who got bogged in the mud (Mishap number 5) Luckily, there were 5 strong PCV members on hand to help get him out and after a heave and a hoe we managed to push him out to park on more firmer ground ( A stop to the car-spa on the way home definitely required).
Lavandula farm was picturesque with beautiful rolling gardens – the stone buildings and chooks running around made you feel like you were in the Italian countryside. And the food was fantastic, the wine great and the bread was all home made . we all sat on our long table and enjoyed a fantastic lunch with a warm open fireplace to set the mood for discussions about cars and other PCV outings and of course to have a laugh at our directional mishaps.
Thanks to those that participated.
Tony Monteleone
Torque Tube Annual Christmas Winery Lunch Run – Sun 6th December
It was a gorgeous Sunday morning to be out, the sun was shining and the air was crisp as we met in Carlton for a quick coffee and some navigation tips. This being my 1st time as register captain of Torque Tube, I was a little bit nervous.
All the participants were on time and well organized, there was my Red 944S2 convertible & my co-captain's Black 944S2 Convertible, a red 944S2 and a gold 944 and lastly a very fine 2009 Black Cayman just to round up the team. After a few handshakes and the mandatory Carlton espresso, we departed Carlton, Healesville bound taking in the picturesque green scenery of the Eltham, Yarra Glen and Healesville.
The roads were surprisingly clear and this allowed us take advantage of the tight twists and some long straights to stretch the legs if you know what I mean. Of course the day was not without incident, having missed the Yarra Glen turn off, luckily everyone was obedient to their Captain and followed me for another 10 minutes until I realised my mistake ( Must remember to take a navigator with me next time). Healesville was abuzz with markets and lots of people when we arrived at our destination, the Giant Step/Innocent bystander winery. Wood fired pizzas, wine tasting and few more stories later and it was time to go but not before the mandatory photo opportunity. Thanks again to all those that participated in the annual Torque Tube winery run, and for assisting me in my 1st outing as Torque Tube captain. looking forward to a few more runs in the New Year.
Tony Monteleone & Angelo Monteleone
